I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...

Friday, September 14, 2012

Remembering Peg Entwistle – The Hollywood Sign Girl

Peg Entwistle

Eighty
years ago, on September 16, 1932, a young, aspiring Hollywood actress would end
her life, and finally make a name for herself.

Although
she appeared in only one film, in the end Peg Entwistle did realize her dream
to become famous in L.A. Unfortunately; it was for jumping from the letter H in the Hollywoodland sign to her death. Since then
she has been known as the “Hollywood Sign Girl.”

The Lights of Broadway

Born
Millicent Lillian Entwistle on February 5, 1908 in Port Talbot, Wales, she was
nicknamed Peg.Peg spent her early
life in London.She moved with her
father to New York City in 1913, and began working behind-the-scenes in
Broadway plays when she was 17 years old.Her father, Robert S. Entwistle, a Broadway actor, was killed in a
hit-and-run accident in 1922.

Bette Davis

The Wild Duck

In
1925, Peg began getting small walk-on parts in Broadway plays including Hamlet and The Wild Duck.Bette Davis said that Peg Entwistle inspired her to become an
actress.

Robert Keith

In
April 1927, Peg married fellow actor Robert Keith in New York City. Her
marriage to the older man lasted for two years.Peg sought a divorce in 1929 on the grounds of cruelty, and
the fact that her husband had not told her he’d been married before and had a
six-year-old son named Brian Keith.

Peg on Broadway

Peg
became a member of the New York Theatre Guild in 1926. She appeared in ten
Broadway plays from 1927 – 1932, including Tommy, The Uninvited Guest, and Alice Sit-By-the-Fire.Things looked promising for her to launch a Broadway career, but Peg
decide that she wanted to move to Hollywood to become a movie actress.

Peg in Thirteen Women

By
May of 1932, Peg was in L.A., performing in the play The Mad Hopes.The
show closed June 4th.On July 23rd, 1932 Peg began filming the part of Hazel
Cousins in the movie, Thirteen Women, staring Myrna Loy and Irene Dunne.After
preview audiences watched the film and gave poor feedback, most of Peg’s scenes
were cut. This would be her only film.

Hollywoodland Sign

Behind the H

At
twenty-four, Peg was impatient and demanding.When agents did not immediately come calling, she became
depressed and began drinking heavily.On Friday, September 16, 1932, Peg climbed up the icon of her dreams,
the Holywoodland sign.She jumped
from the 50-foot H to her
death.Her body was discovered two
days later but no one could identify her.

In
order to discover who she was, her suicide note was published in the L.A.
newspaper. It read:

“I’m
afraid I’m a coward. I’m sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time
ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E.”

Her
uncle, with whom she was living in L.A., recognized her initials on the suicide
letter and realized that her two-day absence was not because she was visiting
with friends.

Photo by Lisa Sinkko

Peg's funeral was held in Hollywood, her body was then cremated and sent to Ohio for
burial by her father.Her ashes
were interred next to her father’s grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Glendale,
Ohio, near Cincinnati.In 2010,
a Facebook campaign was launched to get a gravestone for Peg and her
father.The new stone was placed
at Oak Hill on September 16th, 2010, the 78th anniversary
of Peg’s death.

Daisy Keith

Brian Keith

In
an odd twist of fate, Peg’s stepson, actor Brian Keith, who played the part of
‘Uncle Bill’ in the 1960’s sitcom Family Affair, committed suicide in 1997.Keith’s daughter, Peg’s step-granddaughter,
Daisy, also ended her life in 1997.

Sadly,
it is said that just after Peg committed suicide, a letter arrived at her home
from the Beverly Hills Playhouse, offering her a lead in a stage play.The part was that of a young woman -
driven to commit suicide.

About Me

I
love wine and will take any chance to sip, savor and share it! Hence, Joy’s JOY
of Wine http://joysjoyofwine.blogspot.com,
a weekly blog about all things wine. I've been in the industry for 15
years as a winery owner, marketing director, speaker, writer, wine judge, and
100% vino girl!

I'm
also a professional freelance magazine and book writer uncorking articles about
wine, food, history, travel, cemetery history and culture. My interest in
cemetery culture led to another great, or maybe I should say
"grave" gig, my weekly blog: A Grave Interest http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com where I get to travel around the country and speak about cemetery topics for genealogy, history and
education conferences.

I suppose you could say that wine is my
passion, and cemeteries are my diversion ... into another world.

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